The present invention relates to a composition comprising an additive, in powder or liquid form, with insulating and impermeabilizing properties and with antishrink and flocculating characteristics. These peculiarities make it particularly suitable, more than other similar products, for many applications in civil engineering (thin concrete slabs, plasters, mortars, prefabricated elements, refractory elements, coverings, etc.) and in industrial chemistry (flocculant for water treatment or bonding agent for protective coatings against the corrosion and oxidation of metals, etc.).
The main but not exclusive field of application of the present invention is that of bonding agents. This term indicates substances which, when mixed with water, produce a plastic mass which undergoes, in the course of time, a progressive hardening process until it achieves high mechanical strength. Bonding agents are used to join and keep together other construction elements, to which the mortar adapts and adheres strongly. They are divided into two major categories: air-hardening and hydraulic bonding agents. The first ones (air-hardening limes, plasters, etc.) set and harden only when exposed to air, whereas the second ones (cements, hydraulic limes, etc.) can set and harden even if they are immersed in water. This last property is due to the presence, in hydraulic bonding agents, of a series of compounds (calcium silicates, aluminates and ferrites), which can react with water, producing insoluble or scarcely soluble hydrated products which have cementing properties.